Once Upon a Zone
by generalnothingness
Summary: Six months after the eclipse and DG & Co. are looking for a new adventure. This one involves fairy tales and not so fairy tales . Who knew Disney had it right after all… DG/Cain, Glitch/Az, Jeb/OC Chapter 1 up 5/28/08.
1. Prologue

**Title: **Once Upon a Zone**  
Chapter Title: **Prologue**  
Disclaimer: **I don't own Tin Man, Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Emperor's New Clothes, Rapunzel or Snow White. Whew.**  
Rating: **G for now. If it goes up, I will warn y'all.**  
Characters/Pairings (overall): **takes deep breath DG, Cain, Glitch, Raw, Azkadellia, Jeb, The Queen, Ahamo, an OC named (it's a surprise!), an OC named Mortimer and an OC called The Warlock; DG/Cain, Glitch/Az, Jeb/OC, and a tiny hint at Ancient!Raw/Witch**  
Characters/Pairings (in this chapter): **DG, Cain, Glitch, Raw, Ahamo, Azkadellia, Jeb, and The Queen; minor Glitch/Az (idk, it snuck in there somehow)**  
Word Count:** 532**  
Summary: **A year after the eclipse and DG & Co. are looking for a new adventure. This one involves fairy tales (and not so fairy tales). Who knew Disney had it right after all….**  
Chapter summary: **In the beginning, there was a ball. But that's not where our story starts….**  
A/N:** Thanks, as always, to **Kenbear** because she is amazing. Special thanks to **stacon09** for the fairy tale suggestions. Not beta'd, but it's been sitting on my hard drive, so I figured it was time to post it.

* * *

It was the one year anniversary of the Eclipse. The Queen had held a ball to celebrate, DG had complained about wearing a dress, Azkadellia had been scared to face the people of the O.Z., Cain had worn a suit (tight pants and all) and hated it, Jeb and Raw had been there, and Glitch had glitched. More than once.

But that is not how our story begins. Our story begins on the night after the celebratory ball, when all the guests had waved goodbye to the royal family from their retreating carriages, all the food had been put away, the band had been paid and the two princesses had been safely tucked into their beds.

One princess, the one who'd spent fifteen annuals in darkness, slept fitfully, but did not wake, her head tossing back and forth and her hands gripping her sheets. What she did not know, and would not find out until later, was that a certain half-brained man could hear her as she fought her demons and had placed one pale palm on the thick wooden door of her room in an attempt to send some sort of calming vibes to the dark-haired woman.

The other princess, the younger of the two, who had been talked about all night by the guests about how, yes she had saved the O.Z., but what was she thinking talking like that to the Duke of Extonia and how dancing like that with that Commander Cain was entirely unacceptable and inappropriate, was now sleeping peacefully. Her dark hair was spread out on the pillow, the contrast of the black on white breathtaking, and the covers pulled up to just below her chin. She looked like a small child in the giant bed and had anyone been in the room with they would have surely smiled at the sight of this small slip of a girl who had won the hearts of many.

The palace was silent at the beginning of our story; the only movement was that of a few guards wandering the grounds. And it stayed silent until the first pink rays of the first sun stretched their way across the O.Z. to reach in and caress the sleepers of the castle. The warm beams of light woke several people, including a Tin Man and the Queen, both of whom smiled at the first light of day. The Queen because, after a year of rebuilding, the rays still felt like a wash of cleansing, like the suns themselves were wiping away the evils of the O.Z. to make everything, and everyone, clean and new.

The Tin Man smiled because, even after a year of being free, he never got tired of feeling the sun on his face. Eight years in a tin prison with little to no light made a man appreciate the finer things in life, like the feel of the sun on your face and the pounding of the rain on your shoulders.

The two were the first up, drinking in the beautiful morning that the O.Z. was providing them, watching as the second sun broke the horizon and loving life as it was, when a piercing scream broke the silence.

* * *

**A/N:** So, yeah, that's the prologue. If you noticed any glaring errors, let me know, I'll try and fix them. Updates will be sporadic at best as it's finals time and I'm going home next week. And I probably shouldn't have posted this without writing the rest of it, but chapter 1 is halfway written and I think I know where I'm going with it. Anyway, chapter 1 should be posted next Tuesday or so. Also, if you would like to beta this, let me know (preferably in a PM thnx!).


	2. Down the Rabbit Hole

**Title: **Once Upon a Zone**  
Chapter Title: **Down the Rabbit Hole**  
Disclaimer: **I don't own Tin Man, Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Emperor's New Clothes, Rapunzel, Snow White or Stardust. Whew.**  
Rating: **PG for now. If it goes up, I will warn y'all.**  
Characters/Pairings (overall): **takes deep breath DG, Cain, Glitch, Raw, Azkadellia, Jeb, The Queen, Ahamo, an OC named (it's a surprise!), an OC named Mortimer and an OC called The Warlock; DG/Cain, Glitch/Az, Jeb/OC**  
Characters/Pairings (in this chapter): **DG, Cain, Glitch, Raw, Ahamo, Azkadellia, Jeb, and The Queen; and again with the Az/Glitch (it likes to sneak in there idk)**  
Summary: **Six months after the eclipse and DG & Co. are looking for a new adventure. This one involves fairy tales (and not so fairy tales). Who knew Disney had it right after all….**  
Chapter summary: **It starts with a dream and ends with a goodbye.**  
A/N: **Spot the Holy Grail homage and you get a cookie! Again, much thanks to **Kennedy** for putting up with random subject changes and virtual giggle fits!**  
A/N 2.0:** Please note the timeline change!

* * *

_Flashes of countryside flew across the youngest princess' mind's eye, green pastures and wheat colored fields filling her vision. She was flying, quickly and silently, barely able to register where or when she was. She glanced around, trying to pinpoint her location, but she was moving to quickly, flying over a forest now, the tops of trees seemingly miles beneath her feet. It was day and night at the same time, raining and sunny in the same breath. She didn't understand. Finally her body slowed and she was able to turn and look, searching for any marker that could help her figure out her location. She was lower to the ground now, bare feet almost skimming the waving grass. A glance to her left showed a white elm and an old cabin. And then she was in a different field and her feet were firmly planted on the ground. She stumbled a bit, trying to regain her balance. She called out, her voice shaking, called out for her sister, her parents, her Tin Man. She wasn't scared, just worried because she knew where she was, she just didn't know how to get back. _

_She spun in circles, looking for a way back, but stopped when she noticed a light shining in the middle of the field. She hesitated before moving forward, knowing that she should probably think about what she was doing before she did it. Going towards an unknown source of light, in the middle of an abandoned field, while she was alone, was probably not that great of an idea. But she was who she was and she continued forward. As she got closer she noticed that the source of light was actually a swirling cloud of dust and…glitter? She was somewhat reminded of fairy dust and for a moment she allowed herself to think of Peter Pan and her life on the Other Side. She was jerked back into the present by a little white rabbit making his way across her field of vision. It was walking directly through the dust and stopped at her feet. She looked down, had a fleeting thought about killer rabbits and then noticed that the rabbit, and she, were standing on a trap door. She took a step back and watched as the rabbit hopped away. _

_She knew it was a bad idea, knew it and knew that she should not, open that door. But she did, because, again, she was who she was and she's always doing something rash. The door opened easily and she recalled a similar door opening just as easily. She thought this was the door to The Realm of the Unwanted, but the cloud of pink dust and glitter that plumed up when she pulled on the handle told her otherwise. _

_She stood up straight and looked directly down into the hole. She could hear music and the light chattering of people, but nothing distinctive, nothing that would tell her what the place was called._

Help us. _The voice was soft, feminine and obviously afraid. She bent over the open door trying to hear if the voice would speak again._ Please. Help us. _She wanted to yell into the hole, tell the disembodied voice that she was coming, to hold on, anything. She fell to her knees, hands gripping the edge of the hole, head almost below ground level, trying to get as close as possible._

And then she fell. She screamed as her body plummeted through the darkness, twisting around and around.

She was still screaming when she awoke, body flailing, covered in sweat and crying through her screams. She jerked when her dream-self hit the ground, her eyes flying open and arms swinging wide. She felt two pairs of hands on her, one on each side of her body, trying to calm her. She'd stopped screaming, but the blood rushing through her ears and the echoes of her cries hindered her ability to hear the voices that were trying to reassure her.

Ice blue eyes met hers as Cain grabbed her face and forced her to look at him. "DG!"

She finally stopped struggling and grasped his forearms. She was breathing heavily and there was sweat falling into her eyes.

"DG, my angel, are you alright?" she heard. DG finally pulled her gaze from Cain's to focus on her mother. The Queen was stroking her daughter's sweat soaked hair, trying to soothe her wayward child. Cain's hand fell from her cheeks to her shoulders and DG allowed her own hands to fall into her lap. She was still shaking, though it had slowed to a slight tremor, and she took a ragged breath.

"I'm okay," she said as she let the air out of her lungs. "I'm alright."

The door to the room burst open with a bang and the three people in and around the bed jumped at the sudden sound. Cain re-holstered his gun when he realized it was just the older princess and Glitch. And Ahamo. And Raw. _Really now, this is ridiculous. Whose next, the kitchen maids?_, Cain thought as the newcomers filed in. Raw immediately came to DG's side, sitting next to her on the bed and drawing her close. Cain could see that the Viewer's embrace immediately calmed the still shaken girl.

The Prince Consort went to his wife's side, pulling her close and whispering into her ear. He bent his head as The Queen spoke softly to him, his head coming up to shoot his wife a shocked look at something she had said.

Cain stepped back from the bed and allowed Azkadellia and Glitch to take his and the Queen's places on either side of DG. Azkadellia immediately wrapped her hand around DG's and Cain had to blink at the sudden surge of bright light coming from their entwined fingers. Glitch took up where the Queen had left off, pushing DG's hair from her face.

"Hey, doll," he said, quirking his lips in a half grin. "You alright?" Glitch was worried; he'd never seen DG so scared and shaken up. Even _he_ would remember if this bright-eyed girl had been this scared.

"What happened?" Azkadellia asked, gripping her sister's hand tighter. The entire room fell into a hush, everyone waiting to hear what had caused the youngest in the room such anguish.

DG looked down at her and her sister's hands and swallowed. "It was nothing," she said, her voice shaking. "Just a dream."

"More than dream, DG," Raw said, still hugging the young woman to his side.

"Raw is right, DG," Azkadellia started. "That was much more than a dream. What did you see?"

DG looked around at her family and her closest friends. She saw the worry in their eyes, the concern flickering across their gazes. "It was just - I was -" DG took another deep breath, staring straight ahead at nothing. "I saw a field. Several fields." She glanced at Cain before continuing. "I saw the cabin and the white elm. And…I think…The Realm of the Unwanted?" She let out a humorless laugh and shook her head. She brought the one hand not being held by her sister to cover her eyes and Cain could see that she was still shaking.

"What else, Princess?" he asked from his spot across the room.

Blue eyes met blue and DG pulled strength from the Tin Man's presence. "Um…the trap door. The one that leads to The Realm of the Unwanted. But it was covered with glitter-y dust. Pink dust. And there was a white rabbit." DG paused. There was something familiar about the significance of the rabbit, but she couldn't place it. She took another breath before continuing. "Um…I opened the door and I heard someone asking for help. She wanted me to help 'them.'"

"Them? Them who?" Glitch asked. "Them who? Them who?" Azkadellia placed a hand on his shoulder, stopping his glitch. The former advisor had opted not to have his brain reattached fearing that something would go wrong in the procedure or that he would forget how to be who he had become. DG had been happy about his decision, though she felt a bit guilty because she had a feeling Glitch had made the decision partly because of her.

"I don't - I don't know. They didn't exactly elaborate," DG said, quirking her lips into a smile. "It doesn't matter; it was just a dream."

"Dreams are never just dreams in the O.Z., baby sister," Azkadellia said, stroking her sister's hair.

"She's right, my darling," said the Queen, still standing to the side with Ahamo. "And Gale dreams doubly so. Whatever you saw will come to fruition. Steps need to be taken."

"Steps? Mother, it was a dream. I don't need to go do anything. I'm still reeling from the last adventure," DG cried. The Queen smiled sadly at her youngest child. After so long her daughter had finally been returned to her and already she would have to go off on another adventure. It made her heart ache, but she knew that DG had a duty to follow what her dreams were telling her.

DG eyes widened at the look in her mother's eyes. She was going to have to go help these people and in her heart of hearts, DG knew that it was the right thing to do, but…she just got her family, her real family, back and she wasn't ready to leave them. No matter how loudly her brain was yelling at her to go help these nameless and faceless people, her family, her life, was here now. She wasn't going to give it up that easily.

DG was jerked out of her inner turmoil by the sound of a gruff voice coming from the back of the room.

"So…when do we leave?" Cain asked, never taking his icy blue eyes from DG's darker ones.

"Mr. Cain?" the Queen asked, her brows furrowing together in confusion.

"Well, she's not going by herself. I'm her guard and I promised not to leave her side."

"I'm going too!" The Queen's head whipped back around the bed and stared at her oldest daughter. "We're stronger together, right? DG's probably going to need all the help she can get."

"If Azkadee is going, then I'm going too," Glitch piped up before flushing red in embarrassment. "I mean - uh, I want to help DG also."

"Raw go too," the Viewer said simply, still at DG's side.

"Anyone else want to come on this rendezvous?" Cain asked with a sigh. The whole room turned their gazes to the door when another voice popped up.

"I'll go," came the voice of Jeb Cain as he stepped into the room. "Two guns are better than one, right Father?" he said, grinning at the elder Cain.

"Now, wait just a second!" DG cried from the bed. She pushed her sister out of her way and climbed out of the bed. It was a harder task than she expected as the bed was so big and she had tangled herself in her bed sheets during her nightmare. Her legs became tangled together as she tried to rise out of the bed and she found herself falling off the side of her bed. Before she could hit the ground, however, a pair of arms caught her around the waist and lifted her back onto the bed.

"Thanks, daddy," she said, pushing the bed sheets off her feet, extricating herself from the evil bed. "Just wait! I'm not going anywhere! You all are not going anywhere! This is ridiculous!"

Ahamo watched as his daughter, the one who had been missing for so long, wave her hands in an attempt to dissuade her previous traveling companions and her family that she did not need to go anywhere as it was _just a dream for goodness sakes_!

Ahamo cleared his throat and the room fell silent and seven pairs of eyes fell on him.

"Maybe I could have a minute with Deege?" he said, nodding his head slightly towards the girl in question.

"Of course, my love," the Queen said, ushering the rest of the group out the door.

As soon as the last member had filtered out, Ahamo laid a hand on his daughter's shoulder. He led her over to the recently vacated (evil) bed and sat next to her.

"Dad, I don't understand! It was just a dream! I don't want to go on another -"

Ahamo held up a hand to stop DG's tirade. "I know this is hard to understand, baby girl, but your mother and your sister are right. Gale women dreams are never just dreams. I remember when your mother and I were newly married; she had a horrific dream about one of the stable boys falling off the roof of the stables. Three days later, sure enough, young Daniel fell off. And if your mother hadn't spent the three days prior piling hay around the edge of the stable, that man would have died."

Ahamo smiled at the memory of his young wife, hair in disarray and dirt covering her ever lovely features as the stable boy fell with a soft thump into the pile of hay the young queen had arranged. He looked at his youngest child, so much like his wife, her mother, in both looks and spirit.

"You need to help whoever it was in your dream, DG. They need you," Ahamo said softly, grasping his daughter's hands in his. She looked at him with her bright blue eyes, wide and wondering with a hint of fear behind them. "Do not be scared, baby girl. You have the heart of a Gale. And you have your friends and family behind you. You will do what needs to be done."

Ahamo knew that DG could never say no to someone who needed her help. He had been quite surprised that she hadn't immediately set about helping the people from her dream as soon as she had woken, but the look in her eyes had given him the answer to his unspoken question.

DG did not want to be separated from her family again. As much as these nameless and faceless people were calling to her, she'd just gotten her family back, she couldn't leave them again.

DG stared down at her and her father's hands and let out a sigh. "I want to help them," she said softly, catching her father's gaze.

"We'll still be here when you get back, my daughter," Ahamo said with a grin. He stood up, pulling his daughter along with him and led her to her wardrobe. "Now, get dressed and I'll see about getting the cars arranged. The sooner you leave, the sooner you come back."

"You just want to get rid of me," DG teased.

Ahamo pulled DG into a tight hug, a sad look passing over his face. "Never ever, my daughter," he said, placing a kiss into DG's dark and unruly hair. "Never ever."

* * *

_They're coming._

"What?" the young girl said as she whipped her head around, her light brown hair twirling out around her head. Her green eyes scanned the crowd around her, trying to pinpoint the speaker.

_They're coming._ He _is coming._

"Hello?" she called out again. A few people passing her market stall gave her strange looks as she spun in a small circle. Her eyes were darting back and forth between those passing by her, fear making the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. That voice, the one whispering in her ear, was familiar, like a visitor from her dreams or a relic from her past.

_Ready yourself, child._

"Wha - I, uh -" the young woman stuttered before her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she collapsed behind the table of her stall.

* * *

The trip to the field that held the hidden door to The Realm of the Unwanted seemed shorter than the last one DG and her friends had taken, but then again, they were in cars and not hiding from Longcoats this time around. They made it to the field in the middle of the afternoon a day after DG's dream, having only stopped once because Glitch couldn't hold his Papay juice. The group stumbled out of the cars, all six of them blinking into the sunlight, followed shortly by the ever-graceful queen and her consort.

"Looks like we're walking from here, Princess," Cain said, helping DG from the car. "The Realm of the Unwanted is just beyond those trees. Best say your goodbyes now."

DG and Azkadellia stepped over to their parents, trying to smile bravely in the face of heartache. The family wrapped their arms around each other, a four person mass hug that held so much emotion the Raw had to step further away from the family.

"Be safe, my daughters," the Queen whispered, pressing a kiss to each girls' forehead.

"Don't worry, mother," DG said. "How much trouble could I get into? I mean, I'll have Cain with me. And Jeb. And Raw and Glitch. It won't be so bad. And as soon as I help 'them,' we'll be back. And I swear we are not leaving the castle for at least a year. We will get so sick of each other, you will be begging to get rid of me."

The newly acquainted family laughed, though it was through tears, and stepped back from their make-shift huddle. Hands grasped at each other until the two princesses had moved too far away to hold on anymore. Ahamo held his wife as silent tears rolled down her face and both watched their daughters walk away.

"Are we doing the right thing? Should we really be sending them off so soon?" Ahamo asked, watching as DG and Azkadellia caught up with the rest of their party. "Should we have told them it's not the Realm of the Unwanted?"

"No. As much as I wanted to, they need to find out on their own. That's how it works there. If they know where they're going, it won't be revealed to them. And Mira and Markus should be able to help them. And as much as I don't want them to go, they must. It's not just the FTZ I'm worried about. Should whatever is boiling over there, spill into the Outer Zone, I fear that I, nor DG or Azkadellia, will have enough power to stop it."

"No one has heard from either Mira or Markus in twenty years and it is said that the children died many years ago."

"Mira called to DG, which means she is still alive," the Queen said sharply, turning away from the rapidly retreating group and linking her arm with her husband's. "The darkness is rising in the FTZ. DG and Azkadellia are the only ones who can stop it."

The Queen stopped once more at the door to her vehicle and turned back to her daughters. One last tear fell down her cheeks as she whispered an ancient spell, one that would keep the sisters safe and light their way.

"Be strong, my daughters. Be safe."

* * *

It felt like they had been walking for hours. "'Just beyond those trees' my ass, Cain," DG said, as the group stumble through the underbrush of the dense forest. She tripped on a tree root, her arms flying out in front of her to catch her fall, but a strong hand on her waist stopped the world from flying at her face.

"Whoa there, Princess," Cain said with a chuckle, righting her on her feet and steadying her. "We're almost to the field now. Think you can manage to stay upright until then?" His eyes were teasing and his lips were turned up in a small smile.

DG just stuck her tongue out at him in a very un-princess-like manner and continued on her way. Her steps were long and caused the rest of the group to hurry after her. A few minutes later, the six of them were blinking against the harsh sunlight as they stepped into the clearing.

"Is this it?" Jeb asked, one hand on his gun, twisting his head left and right to check for danger. He caught his father doing the same thing out of the corner of his eye.

No one said anything for a moment, but DG was gazing out into the field, her eyes focused on a spot in the distance. "I - I think so…," she said, trailing off. The others noticed that she was staring off into the distance and followed her gaze across the field.

It was just like in her dream, only this time she was in her jeans and had shoes on. But it was there, the glittering cloud across the field, twinkling in the sunlight. _This was a bad idea, to be going off on another adventure, to be helping these disembodied voices_, but as soon as she had the thought, an intense feeling filled up DG's chest. She glanced to her left to see her sister staring back at her. Azkadellia felt it too. They had to do this; they had to help these people. She didn't know how to explain her feelings and as she watched her sister, she knew Az had no idea either. But deep down inside, below all the fear and indecision, she knew, _they_ knew, that they had to do this.

The two sisters, so alike in looks, but so different in personalities, smiled at each other as they clasped hands. Before Cain or his son could stop them, they raced towards the trap door that would lead them to the Realm of the Unwanted. They could hear the rest of the group calling for them, but they didn't stop until they reached the cloud of dust.

"No turning back now," DG said, running her hand in the cloud. "Why is there dust over it now? There wasn't when we traveled here before."

"I don't know," Azkadellia replied, pulling her sister's hand back. "This doesn't feel right, DG? This isn't the Realm of the Unwanted."

"It has to be. That's where my dream took me." DG knelt down next to the door as the rest of the group caught up with them.

"Princess -" Cain growled, but was stopped when DG shushed him. He glowered at the back of her head, but his attention was drawn to the door when a little white rabbit hopped across it.

"It's all happening," DG whispered. "This is it. This has to be it!" As the rabbit hopped off, DG reached for the handle to the trap door. She couldn't lift the heavy wooden door by herself, so both Cain and Jeb grabbed the handle and hoisted the door up. Just like their trip to the Realm of the Unwanted, as the group huddle over the now open hole, several sounds trickled up to them. It didn't sound as angry as the Realm of the Unwanted, there was no harsh yelling, just the sounds of a marketplace. Occasionally, snippets of music would float up to them.

"Okay," DG said, dragging the word out. "Maybe it's not the Realm of the Unwanted. In that case, what is it? Er, rather, where is it?"

"I know!" Glitch yelped, making the rest of the group jump. "It's - Hang on, I'll get it! It's - It's called -"

"Thanks for the help, Zipperhead," Cain said with a growl. He looked back down into the hole, but the bottom was shrouded in darkness.

"Raw, what do you think? You've been awfully quiet over there," DG said, laying her hand on the Viewer's shoulder.

"Know not name. Zone hidden for many years. Forgotten."

All eyes shot to the Viewer and he cringed at the emotions rolling off the five other people.

"Well," DG started, "I guess we'd better check it out." She started to lower herself down into the hole, knuckles turning white as she clenched the sides of the trap door.

"Wait, DG," Cain said, grabbing her arm before she could lower herself further. "You're just gonna drop down into this place and you don't even know the name of it?"

"You wanted me to come on this rendezvous, why are you trying to stop me now?"

"Because at the time, we were looking at the Realm of the Unwanted. I can handle ex-cons and black market dealers. DG, we don't know what's down there!"

The rest of the group watched as the ex-Tin Man and the youngest princess stared each other down. The tension between the two was so thick, Raw had to take a step back from the group. DG noticed the movement out of the corner of her eye and it distracted her enough to move her gaze from Cain's to the other members of the group.

"I'm going," she said, as she lowered herself further into the hole and let go. And ear-piercing scream echoed through the hole, covering Cain's yell.

* * *

**A/N:** Spot any glaring errors? Let me know. Also, tell me what you think of the fic! Reviews make the fandom world go round.


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